[DWCAP]

I think you should find a less costly place to rent for 5 years and save more money, work on the credit score, and get rid of that credit card bill NOW. Housing isnt going up any time soon, infact most news seems to argue for a slight decrease if anything.

Just a few thoughts:

1) You can find much cheaper housing that is very nice. I rent a 2/2 HOUSE on a big lot for 1550/month in MM. I dont care about the schools cause I am still in my 20’s as well and dont have kids.

2) Alot of those condo’s you are looking at are bunk. They are short sales that will never go through, the HOA has serious problems (and you wont get a loan), the place is trashed and needs more money than you have in just repairs, etc etc etc.

3) Buying a condo is just a bad idea, because you dont want to stay there. After 5 years you will have paid down VERY little of your mortagage, and will be one assment away from loosing any/all equity you have paid off. Plus you will have transaction costs and general home repair costs that are on you. Just due to the transaction, mortagage and repair costs you will need to make ATLEAST 10% appreciation over the next 5 years, just to break even let alone make anything.

I am in a similar boat to you, 20’s, in a stable relationship, first good job (ok I am 2 years ahead of you, but I was there in 2009). Hell, the GF even had similar credit card debt as you. We moved into this little house, killed her CC debt, and saved $. We took hikes and walks on the beach, rented movies from Netflix instead of going out, went camping in Palomar instead of traveling…. Inshort, we gave up the luxeries we loved.

Since we moved into our little house in 09 the GF has saved ~15k, and paid off the CC. I have done alittle better. Plus our credit scores are now ~800 each.

If you pulled off the similar, in 3 years you could have 50k no prob, no debt, great credit, and be able to jump directly into your starter home which is obviously your real target.

Or you could follow the route a co-worker took in early 2003, bought a condo, fixed it up, did like you want to. He is still atleast 10% underwater BEFORE the transaction costs, cant refi, cant rent it for par, cant move without loosing thousands, and cant go out and buy the house he wants cause his ‘investment’ is really just an anchor keeping him from the things he really wants.

Your choice, 3 years hard work to get what you want; or 5 years of speculation.

[DWCAP]

I think you should find a less costly place to rent for 5 years and save more money, work on the credit score, and get rid of that credit card bill NOW. Housing isnt going up any time soon, infact most news seems to argue for a slight decrease if anything.

Just a few thoughts:

1) You can find much cheaper housing that is very nice. I rent a 2/2 HOUSE on a big lot for 1550/month in MM. I dont care about the schools cause I am still in my 20’s as well and dont have kids.

2) Alot of those condo’s you are looking at are bunk. They are short sales that will never go through, the HOA has serious problems (and you wont get a loan), the place is trashed and needs more money than you have in just repairs, etc etc etc.

3) Buying a condo is just a bad idea, because you dont want to stay there. After 5 years you will have paid down VERY little of your mortagage, and will be one assment away from loosing any/all equity you have paid off. Plus you will have transaction costs and general home repair costs that are on you. Just due to the transaction, mortagage and repair costs you will need to make ATLEAST 10% appreciation over the next 5 years, just to break even let alone make anything.

I am in a similar boat to you, 20’s, in a stable relationship, first good job (ok I am 2 years ahead of you, but I was there in 2009). Hell, the GF even had similar credit card debt as you. We moved into this little house, killed her CC debt, and saved $. We took hikes and walks on the beach, rented movies from Netflix instead of going out, went camping in Palomar instead of traveling…. Inshort, we gave up the luxeries we loved.

Since we moved into our little house in 09 the GF has saved ~15k, and paid off the CC. I have done alittle better. Plus our credit scores are now ~800 each.

If you pulled off the similar, in 3 years you could have 50k no prob, no debt, great credit, and be able to jump directly into your starter home which is obviously your real target.

Or you could follow the route a co-worker took in early 2003, bought a condo, fixed it up, did like you want to. He is still atleast 10% underwater BEFORE the transaction costs, cant refi, cant rent it for par, cant move without loosing thousands, and cant go out and buy the house he wants cause his ‘investment’ is really just an anchor keeping him from the things he really wants.

Your choice, 3 years hard work to get what you want; or 5 years of speculation.

[DWCAP]

and to FSD’s comments about affordability, all true. Any payment to income/rent/historical payment/(whatever) calculation will show today’s unparalled affordability.

Because of today’s unparrelled interest rates.

Rates are so low, that they make our really quite high prices seem low. Seeing as interest rates can only really go up from here, the only way to maintain these ratio’s is for incomes go up by an equilivant amount (hard to do in todays economy) or for prices to fall.

I have no idea what will happen, but I do know that when he (and sdr) purchased his house in 1996, it was high(er) interest rates on low(er) prices vs incomes that constrained housing prices. Today it is high prices and rock bottom level interest rates vs stagnant incomes that are constraining pricing. The payments look the same in raw terms, but potential for future gains and ‘investment’ potential are drastically different.

The lesson I see from that, “only buy a house you really want to stay in, cause it is unlikley there will be much REAL appreciation for a very long time”.

[DWCAP]

and to FSD’s comments about affordability, all true. Any payment to income/rent/historical payment/(whatever) calculation will show today’s unparalled affordability.

Because of today’s unparrelled interest rates.

Rates are so low, that they make our really quite high prices seem low. Seeing as interest rates can only really go up from here, the only way to maintain these ratio’s is for incomes go up by an equilivant amount (hard to do in todays economy) or for prices to fall.

I have no idea what will happen, but I do know that when he (and sdr) purchased his house in 1996, it was high(er) interest rates on low(er) prices vs incomes that constrained housing prices. Today it is high prices and rock bottom level interest rates vs stagnant incomes that are constraining pricing. The payments look the same in raw terms, but potential for future gains and ‘investment’ potential are drastically different.

The lesson I see from that, “only buy a house you really want to stay in, cause it is unlikley there will be much REAL appreciation for a very long time”.

[DWCAP]

and to FSD’s comments about affordability, all true. Any payment to income/rent/historical payment/(whatever) calculation will show today’s unparalled affordability.

Because of today’s unparrelled interest rates.

Rates are so low, that they make our really quite high prices seem low. Seeing as interest rates can only really go up from here, the only way to maintain these ratio’s is for incomes go up by an equilivant amount (hard to do in todays economy) or for prices to fall.

I have no idea what will happen, but I do know that when he (and sdr) purchased his house in 1996, it was high(er) interest rates on low(er) prices vs incomes that constrained housing prices. Today it is high prices and rock bottom level interest rates vs stagnant incomes that are constraining pricing. The payments look the same in raw terms, but potential for future gains and ‘investment’ potential are drastically different.

The lesson I see from that, “only buy a house you really want to stay in, cause it is unlikley there will be much REAL appreciation for a very long time”.

[DWCAP]

and to FSD’s comments about affordability, all true. Any payment to income/rent/historical payment/(whatever) calculation will show today’s unparalled affordability.

Because of today’s unparrelled interest rates.

Rates are so low, that they make our really quite high prices seem low. Seeing as interest rates can only really go up from here, the only way to maintain these ratio’s is for incomes go up by an equilivant amount (hard to do in todays economy) or for prices to fall.

I have no idea what will happen, but I do know that when he (and sdr) purchased his house in 1996, it was high(er) interest rates on low(er) prices vs incomes that constrained housing prices. Today it is high prices and rock bottom level interest rates vs stagnant incomes that are constraining pricing. The payments look the same in raw terms, but potential for future gains and ‘investment’ potential are drastically different.

The lesson I see from that, “only buy a house you really want to stay in, cause it is unlikley there will be much REAL appreciation for a very long time”.

[DWCAP]

and to FSD’s comments about affordability, all true. Any payment to income/rent/historical payment/(whatever) calculation will show today’s unparalled affordability.

Because of today’s unparrelled interest rates.

Rates are so low, that they make our really quite high prices seem low. Seeing as interest rates can only really go up from here, the only way to maintain these ratio’s is for incomes go up by an equilivant amount (hard to do in todays economy) or for prices to fall.

I have no idea what will happen, but I do know that when he (and sdr) purchased his house in 1996, it was high(er) interest rates on low(er) prices vs incomes that constrained housing prices. Today it is high prices and rock bottom level interest rates vs stagnant incomes that are constraining pricing. The payments look the same in raw terms, but potential for future gains and ‘investment’ potential are drastically different.

The lesson I see from that, “only buy a house you really want to stay in, cause it is unlikley there will be much REAL appreciation for a very long time”.

[DWCAP]

After catching up on this thread WAY too late, I am going to throw my two cents into the discussion.

I think alot of the dislocation between ‘reasonability’ and ‘reality’ that is driving the OP out of SD is the way people, especially new buyer/households, shop for housing. Lets face it, new buyers make the market. The whole bubble was driven by falling interest rates and mortgage standards. The bust came when we ran out of willing bodies to take, and then pay for mortages. But new buyers are also some of the dumbest buyers around. Not always, but often. They get a first promotion, get engaged/married, graduate grad school, get pregnant, whatever; and then decide they need to buy a house. So the go out, look around alittle bit and then try to make the best buy they can. But there is no historical or economic relevance to this decision process, and a tremendous amount of emotional baggage. Coupled with a selfish and delusional RE industry that actually believes high prices are good, and a even more selfish and delusional Governemnt which constantly enables the industry to engage in this delusion, we get todays reality. Prices are high becuase they ‘always are’ and people dont want to spend the time or energy to figure out they are being gamed. This reality could be changed, but that would require a change in economic education, rational thinking, and fiscal policy. Good luck with that, there are too many stakeholders who stand to loose too much for any of that to happen.

[DWCAP]

After catching up on this thread WAY too late, I am going to throw my two cents into the discussion.

I think alot of the dislocation between ‘reasonability’ and ‘reality’ that is driving the OP out of SD is the way people, especially new buyer/households, shop for housing. Lets face it, new buyers make the market. The whole bubble was driven by falling interest rates and mortgage standards. The bust came when we ran out of willing bodies to take, and then pay for mortages. But new buyers are also some of the dumbest buyers around. Not always, but often. They get a first promotion, get engaged/married, graduate grad school, get pregnant, whatever; and then decide they need to buy a house. So the go out, look around alittle bit and then try to make the best buy they can. But there is no historical or economic relevance to this decision process, and a tremendous amount of emotional baggage. Coupled with a selfish and delusional RE industry that actually believes high prices are good, and a even more selfish and delusional Governemnt which constantly enables the industry to engage in this delusion, we get todays reality. Prices are high becuase they ‘always are’ and people dont want to spend the time or energy to figure out they are being gamed. This reality could be changed, but that would require a change in economic education, rational thinking, and fiscal policy. Good luck with that, there are too many stakeholders who stand to loose too much for any of that to happen.

[DWCAP]

After catching up on this thread WAY too late, I am going to throw my two cents into the discussion.

I think alot of the dislocation between ‘reasonability’ and ‘reality’ that is driving the OP out of SD is the way people, especially new buyer/households, shop for housing. Lets face it, new buyers make the market. The whole bubble was driven by falling interest rates and mortgage standards. The bust came when we ran out of willing bodies to take, and then pay for mortages. But new buyers are also some of the dumbest buyers around. Not always, but often. They get a first promotion, get engaged/married, graduate grad school, get pregnant, whatever; and then decide they need to buy a house. So the go out, look around alittle bit and then try to make the best buy they can. But there is no historical or economic relevance to this decision process, and a tremendous amount of emotional baggage. Coupled with a selfish and delusional RE industry that actually believes high prices are good, and a even more selfish and delusional Governemnt which constantly enables the industry to engage in this delusion, we get todays reality. Prices are high becuase they ‘always are’ and people dont want to spend the time or energy to figure out they are being gamed. This reality could be changed, but that would require a change in economic education, rational thinking, and fiscal policy. Good luck with that, there are too many stakeholders who stand to loose too much for any of that to happen.

[DWCAP]

After catching up on this thread WAY too late, I am going to throw my two cents into the discussion.

I think alot of the dislocation between ‘reasonability’ and ‘reality’ that is driving the OP out of SD is the way people, especially new buyer/households, shop for housing. Lets face it, new buyers make the market. The whole bubble was driven by falling interest rates and mortgage standards. The bust came when we ran out of willing bodies to take, and then pay for mortages. But new buyers are also some of the dumbest buyers around. Not always, but often. They get a first promotion, get engaged/married, graduate grad school, get pregnant, whatever; and then decide they need to buy a house. So the go out, look around alittle bit and then try to make the best buy they can. But there is no historical or economic relevance to this decision process, and a tremendous amount of emotional baggage. Coupled with a selfish and delusional RE industry that actually believes high prices are good, and a even more selfish and delusional Governemnt which constantly enables the industry to engage in this delusion, we get todays reality. Prices are high becuase they ‘always are’ and people dont want to spend the time or energy to figure out they are being gamed. This reality could be changed, but that would require a change in economic education, rational thinking, and fiscal policy. Good luck with that, there are too many stakeholders who stand to loose too much for any of that to happen.

[DWCAP]

After catching up on this thread WAY too late, I am going to throw my two cents into the discussion.

I think alot of the dislocation between ‘reasonability’ and ‘reality’ that is driving the OP out of SD is the way people, especially new buyer/households, shop for housing. Lets face it, new buyers make the market. The whole bubble was driven by falling interest rates and mortgage standards. The bust came when we ran out of willing bodies to take, and then pay for mortages. But new buyers are also some of the dumbest buyers around. Not always, but often. They get a first promotion, get engaged/married, graduate grad school, get pregnant, whatever; and then decide they need to buy a house. So the go out, look around alittle bit and then try to make the best buy they can. But there is no historical or economic relevance to this decision process, and a tremendous amount of emotional baggage. Coupled with a selfish and delusional RE industry that actually believes high prices are good, and a even more selfish and delusional Governemnt which constantly enables the industry to engage in this delusion, we get todays reality. Prices are high becuase they ‘always are’ and people dont want to spend the time or energy to figure out they are being gamed. This reality could be changed, but that would require a change in economic education, rational thinking, and fiscal policy. Good luck with that, there are too many stakeholders who stand to loose too much for any of that to happen.

[DWCAP]

[quote=jstoesz]wow! You hit that nail on the head…

that is exactly what has killed me about the vikings. We have a habit of getting washed up quarterbacks and hope they can hit a good receiving lineup. The practice goes back to Good ole warren moon. Sure we had a few good years with culpepper, but the man had less than half a brain…he was clearly no franchise maker.

Sadly I found out both Culpepper and Green are now in Sacramento at the Sacramento Mountain Lions. So no matter how little Dante or Denny, I can’t get away from them.[/quote]

Oh, I hear ya. I have wondered for far far too long why it is that they seem obsesed with has beens and shoulda beens. Good God, they have an awsome team, cept for a Qback. LEARN DAMNIT! All you are missing is a champ Quarterback.

[DWCAP]

[quote=jstoesz]wow! You hit that nail on the head…

that is exactly what has killed me about the vikings. We have a habit of getting washed up quarterbacks and hope they can hit a good receiving lineup. The practice goes back to Good ole warren moon. Sure we had a few good years with culpepper, but the man had less than half a brain…he was clearly no franchise maker.

Sadly I found out both Culpepper and Green are now in Sacramento at the Sacramento Mountain Lions. So no matter how little Dante or Denny, I can’t get away from them.[/quote]

Oh, I hear ya. I have wondered for far far too long why it is that they seem obsesed with has beens and shoulda beens. Good God, they have an awsome team, cept for a Qback. LEARN DAMNIT! All you are missing is a champ Quarterback.

[DWCAP]

[quote=jstoesz]wow! You hit that nail on the head…

that is exactly what has killed me about the vikings. We have a habit of getting washed up quarterbacks and hope they can hit a good receiving lineup. The practice goes back to Good ole warren moon. Sure we had a few good years with culpepper, but the man had less than half a brain…he was clearly no franchise maker.

Sadly I found out both Culpepper and Green are now in Sacramento at the Sacramento Mountain Lions. So no matter how little Dante or Denny, I can’t get away from them.[/quote]

Oh, I hear ya. I have wondered for far far too long why it is that they seem obsesed with has beens and shoulda beens. Good God, they have an awsome team, cept for a Qback. LEARN DAMNIT! All you are missing is a champ Quarterback.

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